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I am encouraged to see the Bohemian publish Sheperd's article about Standing Rock's efforts to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline. This issue is not getting enough coverage in the media and the honest coverage has mostly come from independent journalists so I appreciate seeing this in a local paper very much. I attended both actions in Santa Rosa on the 15th and know our community will continue coming together to support Standing Rock on the long road ahead. Please be sure all or your friends and family know about this and don't assume they have heard. These are reliable sites for donations, information about what is happening on the ground and actions nationwide :
http://standwithstandingrock.net/donate/
www.OcetiSakowinCamp.org
http://sacredstonecamp.org/
http://indigenousrising.org/

Thank you for Shepherd Bliss's article on Standing Rock. It is essential to have this kind of thorough coverage, as local, national and, already, international awareness grows.
Well done Bohemian!
And thank you Shepherd.
Angela Ford

Great to see this article by Shepherd on this very important ongoing effort by Water Protectors and allies. One correction is the cost of the pipeline is in billions not millions - 3.8 billion. Many from this area have traveled up and are helping in their way. Those of us behind have many ways to contribute as Shepherd points out.

Too many of our police officers are acting from fear of, rather than from love of, their fellow human beings. We do not adequately educate or train them to fulfill the only oath they take which is to "serve, protect, and defend" the Constitutional Rights of All People, not just the ones who look, sound, and smell like the wealthy living on the right side of the tracks.

I hesitate to comment in the Bohemian as they have over-edited my comments before but, I sure agree with Padi Selwyn; the current growth rate of permitting more wineries especially in rural neighborhoods needs to be reviewed more carefully. The one big industry in our county has for too long enjoyed the full support of our county supervisors. Their appointees to the planning commission have rubber stamped too many of the projects brought before them.
With a weakened coastal commission, and more investors seeking to put wineries on our coastal hills, we need to Elect a 5th district supervisor not beholden to the big moneyed interests.
Ken Sund

This rampant over-development by the wine industry impacts not only Sonoma County, but our neighbors in Napa, Mendocino, Lake, and more recently Solano Counties. I enjoy wine and there are certainly many good grape growers and wine makers in our region, to which the wine industry makes important contributions. However, given that wine is a boom-and-bust product, it has become a serious threat to our economy--too many eggs in the same basket. 96% of the veggies and fruit sold in Sonoma County are imported from outside, according to Go Local, which means that we are no longer a food ag county. In terms of food security, this is a dangerous imbalance that must be addressed.

Quoting from the piece, "Yet buried in the pages of the proposition is a specific change to the licensing framework. In just a handful of words, the AUMA creates a new cultivation license with no limit on the scale of cultivation, effectively repealing protections for small farms that were enacted by the state Legislature."

Unless a state ballot measure is a CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT, rather than a simple ballot measure, anything and everything can be changed by the state legislature. It is more work and money to lobby to change it to Craft Cannabis people's liking but it could and should happen. All this potential gloom and doom of wiping out the small grower can be changed by the legislature, especially if the elected Prohibitionists finally realize, as some of them already have, that Craft Cannabis cultivation is a sizeable part of their constituents' local economy, and has been in some parts for 30-40 years--sort of kill the goose that lays the golden egg theory! Now that it is in the "mainstream", Craft Cannabis money flowing in the local economy is bigger than ever. Allow the local economy to be killed and they will be voted out of office and replaced. The legislature can change whatever they want by passing future legislation, slyly or overtly, good or bad. The Craft Cannabis side just has to work harder for that to happen to what the Cannabis people like. That means people like Hezekiah and his organization has to raise more funds and hire more lobbyists than they have now. Cannabis is in mainstream politics all across the country and the pro-Cannabis PAC groups have to work it like all the other special interest lobby groups.

In all the states that have passed adult use rec legal, the original ballot measure provisions have been tweaked and outright changed from their original intent. Legislatures will change future ballot measures everywhere in the states that pass adult use/rec legal. It just means and boils down to more work for the Cannabis PACs.

Why should Sebastopol donate an antenna site that is outside town and makes the neighbors furious. There are other alternatives that KOWS has available without enraging the neighbors. Most radio stations I listen to care about their public image more than blowing wind to their listeners who are mostly the other hobby radio moderators.

Maybe they hope to add some cell towers which are now known to be carcinogenic.

The state muffler law is not hard to enforce at all. It's not that the police have to ticket every single excessively loud motorcycle that roars through their jurisdiction.

Like Alex said, simply ticketing a few of them on a regular basis will get the message out that riding illegally modified loud motorcycles through town has consequences that the bikers would probably want to avoid. And that would educate them that the best way to avoid those consequences is to comply with the state muffler law.

But simply ignoring the problem and not enforcing the law at all sends the message that there will be no consequences for violating the state muffler law, riding loud and disturbing the peace.

The town's officials should stop making excuses and stop blowing off those who complian about unlawfully loud motorcycles. They should enforce the law and send the right message to the loud riding motorcycle noise scofflaws.

Well said, Don Scott! Another aspect is greatly increased air pollution when scofflaw bikers remove exhaust systems with catalytic converters. Have those city council members and mayors who covet biker dollars considered the dollars they lose from tourists who stay away to avoid the abusive noise?

Mr. Scott is right on target regarding the absurdity and insolence of the Loud Biker Cult[ure]. In 1981, with the de-funding of the Office of Noise Abatement and Control (ONAC), the responsibility for control/enforcement of environmental NOISE issues and enforcement relevant to "vehicular NOISE" was delegated to the States and Local Governments - THEY HAVE FAILED US MISERABLY - ALL ACROSS THE UNITED STATES!

The US EPA, via the Code of Federal Regulations, restricts "total" street motorcycle noise emissions to 80 dB(A) for the 1986 production year forward - why? Because 80 dB(A) has been stipulated as the "minimum" safe level of protection for the general public. The EPA even went further - they require every production motorcycle muffler for street use to be permanently embossed with an EPA label showing that said muffler is compliant with EPA mandates. Then the EPA enacted "tampering" restrictions that forbid the alteration, modification, removal of that factory-installed muffler except for repair, maintenance or replacement - but - the replacement muffler must not contribute to "total" motorcycle noise emissions over 80 dB(A). So, what's the problem?

We, the American people, have, for the previous five stinking decades, been audibly assaulted by hedonistic mongrel-bullies who have, with an attitude of "entitlement," opted to remove their legal factory quiet motorcycle muffler and replace same with any number of illegal, NOT FOR ROAD USE, aftermarket egregiously LOUD exhaust that, via their unlawful NOISE, intrude into our homes, our places of worship, our schools, our work environment, our daycare facilities, our retirement homes - destroy our quality of life and audibly assault or most innocent and defenseless while the Loud Biker Cult[ure] does so with impunity and void any semblance of conscience. ENOUGH WITH THE ILLEGAL NOISE!

Law enforcement, get out of Starbucks, put the hamburger down and do your job - stop the bully behavior of the Loud Motorcycle Cult[ure]! We the citizens have had enough of the LOUD biker-bully-behavior!

Mr. Scott is right on target regarding the absurdity and insolence of the Loud Biker Cult[ure]. In 1981, with the de-funding of the Office of Noise Abate and Control (ONAC), the responsibility for control/enforcement of environmental NOISE issues and enforcement relevant to "vehicular NOISE" was delegated to the States and Local Governments - THEY HAVE FAILED US MISERABLY - ALL ACROSS THE UNITED STATES!

The US EPA, via the Code of Federal Regulations, restricts "total" street motorcycle noise emissions to 80 dB(A) for the 1986 production year forward - why? Because 80 dB(A) has been stipulated as the "minimum" safe level of protection for the general public. The EPA even went further - they require every production motorcycle muffler for street use to be permanently embossed with an EPA label showing that said muffler is compliant with EPA mandates. Then the EPA enacted "tampering" restrictions that forbid the alteration, modification, removal of that factory-installed muffler except for repair, maintenance or replacement - but - the replacement muffler must not contribute to "total" motorcycle noise emissions over 80 dB(A). So, what's the problem?

We, the American people, have, for the previous five stinking decades, been audibly assaulted by hedonistic mongrel-bullies who have, with an attitude of "entitlement," opted to remove their legal factory quiet motorcycle muffler and replace same with any number of illegal, NOT FOR ROAD USE, aftermarket egregiously LOUD exhaust that, via their unlawful NOISE, intrude into our homes, our places of worship, our schools, our work environment, our daycare facilities, our retirement homes - audibly assault or most innocent and defenseless and the Loud Biker Cult[ure] does so with impunity and void any semblance of conscience. ENOUGH WITH THE ILLEGAL NOISE!

The situation has gotten to the point where I've recently filed a Federal Lawsuit over the egregious motorcycle noise and the mayoral prostitution with the Loud Biker Cult[ure] at thug-fests called motorcycle rallies...see: http://static.lakana.com/nxsglobal/nwahomepage/document_dev/2016/02/12/3296_001_7003391_ver1.0.pdf

Law enforcement, get out of Starbucks, put the hamburger down and do your job - stop the bully behavior of the Loud Motorcycle Cult[ure]! We the citizens have had enough of the LOUD biker-bully-behavior!

Police are only being asked to enforce the law. Ticketing one in one hundred violators would be enough to make bikers consider their behavior while driving through town. It's hard to not feel like law enforcement is turning a blind eye for personal reasons.

Don is absolutely correct about police officers routinely ignoring the illegal loud bikes. In fact, it's abusive behavior to ride loud and that fact alone should prompt the police to address this abuse.

My gripe is not with Courthouse Square, although I would not vote for it personally. My frustration is over the lack of due process in allowing this project to pass the correct milestones in relation to timing of community input for design review, as well as for community input over finance and funding mechanism for this project. The budget is for $10 million, which will likely cost much more than that, or about 20 million over 30 years due to the fact that counsel motioned for a funding mechanism called certificates of participation, which is a form of finance that will cost much more in interest payments, risk, and administrative costs. Whereas if counciil chose traditional funding or if they put the cost of the project to a vote for a bond, then the project costs would be much lower. As it is, the community advisory board officiated by counsel did not give the courthouse Square (finance review) the required four community meetings to review the funding mechanism. This is a violation of the city charter. Are you out raged yet? If this project is such a great idea then what is the fear Council has in putting it to a public vote? Answer; because they know it will not pass two thirds majority vote. This project has been opposed for more than three decades, which tells us that the public does not want it. Yet counsel insists on pushing it down the gullet of the taxpayer. Our group has worked tirelessly to attempt to get answers out of council members, city attorney, the city manager, the CFO; of whom obfuscate the details. It is like trying to nail Jell-O to a tree getting a clear answer out of them, akin to a shell game. One extreme measure to take would be to repeal the city charter so that Council will stop violating city charter governing laws put into place by the voters. We could replace it with state general law, which is much more restrictive of local government, but that has its drawbacks to. Frustratingly, it would be a pleasure to take the sandbox and toys away from counsel for a while and replace it with stringent general state law until they know how to play by the rules for the people by the people.